🌀🗞 The FLUX Review, Ep. 182
March 20th, 2025
Episode 182 — March 20th, 2025 — Available at read.fluxcollective.org/p/182
Contributors to this issue: Erika Rice Scherpelz, Neel Mehta, Boris Smus, MK
Additional insights from: Ade Oshineye, Alex Komoroske, Ben Mathes, Chris Butler, Dart Lindsley,Dimitri Glazkov, Jasen Robillard, Jon Lebensold, Julka Almquist, Justin Quimby, Kamran Hakiman, Lisie Lillianfeld, Melanie Kahl, Robinson Eaton, Samuel Arbesman, Scott Schaffter, Spencer Pitman, Wesley Beary
We’re a ragtag band of systems thinkers who have been dedicating our early mornings to finding new lenses to help you make sense of the complex world we live in. This newsletter is a collection of patterns we’ve noticed in recent weeks.
“Only an idiot fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots would fight a war on twelve fronts.”
— Ambassador Londo Mollari, Babylon 5
💅🔨 Machine-environment fit
Technology doesn’t start from scratch. Each new system carries forward pieces of what came before, shaping our experiences in both visible and invisible ways. For instance, computer systems use two characters to define a new line of text (\r\n)—one to return the typewriter’s cursor to the left side of the page and the other to drop to the next line.
However, as environments change, these inherited structures don’t always fit as neatly as they once did. Instead of seeing this as a flaw, we can view it as an essential part of how innovation unfolds: friction isn’t just a challenge; it’s a clue.
Take self-checkout systems. They weren’t designed from the ground up for consumers but adapted from tools originally optimized for cashiers—barcode scanners, weight sensors, and touchscreens. The result? A system where users must learn these tools, whether or not they are fit for the job at hand. The mismatch here isn’t random; it’s a sign that the machine-environment fit hasn’t yet fully evolved.
Friction isn’t failure—it’s design in motion. Retailers like Uniqlo and Decathlon are exploring what happens when we listen to these signals. Instead of forcing old tools into a new context, they’ve embraced RFID-based checkout, where customers simply place their items in a basket and let the system do the work. The essence of automation remains, but the interaction has been reimagined to fit the user, not the other way around.
This shift reflects a deeper truth: legacy systems aren’t obstacles; they are starting points. The past provides the structure, but friction points the way forward. Early smartphones struggled with tiny physical keyboards before touchscreens redefined interaction. Streaming services initially mimicked TV schedules before embracing on-demand viewing. In each case, inherited forms created tension, which signaled where change was needed.
These points of friction can do more than reveal design opportunities. They also help people adapt. Legacy is leverage. An utterly foreign interface can feel alienating, but systems that retain elements of the past act as stepping stones, easing users into new ways of interacting. Think of how early electric cars kept a “gear shift” selector even though they didn’t need one or how digital note-taking apps often mimic the look of lined paper. These choices make transitions smoother by grounding users in something familiar, even as the underlying technology evolves.
By recognizing friction as both a signal for change and a bridge between past and future, we move beyond seeing mismatches as problems to be fixed and instead, view them as part of the natural rhythm of innovation. The best technology isn’t about erasing the past—it’s about listening closely enough to know when it’s time to evolve.
🛣️🚩 Signposts
Clues that point to where our changing world might lead us.
🚏🔋 BYD’s new electric cars can charge in 5 minutes
BYD, the hot Chinese automaker that has surpassed Tesla to become the world’s largest EV manufacturer, unveiled a new electric car platform whose batteries can get 250 miles (400 km) of range with just five minutes of charging — comparable to the speed of filling up a gas tank. By contrast, Tesla’s best Superchargers can add about 170 miles of range with 15 minutes of charging.
🚏🇳🇱 A Dutch city is building a 12,000-person car-free neighborhood
Construction has started on a huge, new car-free neighborhood in Utrecht, the Netherlands’ fourth-largest city. The 24-hectare district, named Merwede, is expected to house 12,000 residents. Merwede will feature plants and solar panels on all building roofs and use a large underground thermal storage facility (the Netherlands’ largest) to make the district “almost energy-neutral.” The bikeable neighborhood will include schools, a sports hall, parks, indoor gardens, and cafes.
🚏🍟 US restaurant productivity rose 15% during COVID and never went back down
A new working paper from NBER found that “after remaining almost constant for almost 30 years, real labor productivity at U.S. restaurants surged over 15% during the COVID pandemic” and has stayed at that high level ever since. The major factor the researchers found was a sustained increase in takeout orders, which has reduced the average diner’s dwell time and thus increased throughput.
🚏🚂 Wind and solar finally overtook coal power in the US
In 2024, the US got 17% of its electricity from wind and solar put together, while coal fell to a record low of just 15% — the first time these two green energy sources out-produced coal. Solar, in particular, put up eye-popping numbers in 2024: it accounted for 81% of all “new annual power capacity additions” (while natural gas flatlined) and increased its output by 27%, making it the fastest-growing source of energy in the country.
📖⏳ Worth your time
Some especially insightful pieces we’ve read, watched, and listened to recently.
There’s More to Those Colliding Blocks That Compute Pi (3Blue1Brown / YouTube) — Breaks down a seemingly complicated physics problem into circles, geometry, angles, and eventually a simple trigonometric equation — from which the initially surprising result (the blocks collide a multiple of pi times!) suddenly looks obvious. Grant’s comment on turning physics into a pure math problem: “distilling a problem into its core essence can expose hidden connections, and it's through those connections that mathematicians make progress.”
Don’t Let AI Dumb You Down (Matt Beane) — Argues that technological breakthroughs increase productivity but, at the same time, often lead to workers losing skills (since the machines now do so much of your job for you) — and this same deskilling risk applies to the new crop of AI tools. The author suggests one practical tactic to use AI as a tool for self-improvement: configure ChatGPT's custom instructions to better suit your personal values.
The Tariffs Will Crush the US Wine Industry (Dave Infante / Bluesky) — A beer journalist examines the counterintuitive (and negative) knock-on effects of the US’s upcoming tariffs on European booze. With less imported wine, truckers will have less volume, thus driving up distribution prices for American wine sellers. Wine is an easily substitutable good (and it’s been losing market share to, e.g., hard seltzers), so wine sellers can’t be price makers and thus won’t be able to raise prices in response to the tariffs.
How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days (The Atlantic) — Describes how Adolf Hitler, who was democratically elected, managed to transform his country into Nazi Germany in under two months through mostly constitutional means and a little help from what was likely a false flag operation (the Reichstag Fire). Hitler blamed the fire on the Communist Party and banned them, thereby getting the supermajority he needed to pass the Enabling Act, which let him pass future laws by fiat.
📚🛋️ Book for your shelf
A book that will help you dip your toes into systems thinking or explore its broader applications.
This week, we recommend Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1989, 482 pages).
Why recommend a science fiction novel for systems thinkers? Simmons’ space opera is more than just a futuristic remix of The Canterbury Tales through the stars; it’s a richly woven exploration of complex ecological, technological, and societal systems interacting in profound, unpredictable ways.
The narrative structure mirrors the principles of systems thinking. Through the interconnected stories of seven pilgrims, Hyperion illustrates how individual experiences, beliefs, and actions ripple outward, affecting an entire civilization. Simmons delves into themes of interconnectedness, unintended consequences, and the intricate balance between stability and chaos, capturing the essence of living in complexity. The mysterious Shrike, an unfathomably powerful creature at the heart of the novel’s enigma, symbolizes the unpredictable outcomes that arise within complex adaptive systems.
While not a traditional systems thinking text, Hyperion delivers its insights through compelling human stories rather than abstract theories—making complex ideas accessible and memorable. It reminds us that even as we map intricate systems, we shouldn’t lose sight of the individual narratives that drive them. In our world of ever-accelerating complexity, Hyperion offers both warning and wisdom: systems can be understood, but only if we’re willing to see them from multiple perspectives.
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